An Experiment in Suspense

Upon close inspection, Highsbury Manor would have looked deserted on the fatal evening where this scene unfolds. The surrounding property was uninhabited wilderness, and the face of the house was desolate and silent. One window at the highest point of the house was illuminated, a solitary candle being the only source of light on the entire property.
Clenching her fists in the corner of this room, Margaret Mandible stared at the darkened recess of the stairwell that taunted her across the attic floor. The prospect of what she would have to do if the figure of her assailant appeared in the light of the candle paralyzed her with fear. Slowly backing toward the window, she unholstered the revolver her former employer had supplied her with at the beginning of the macabre night. Having thought earlier that she could never push herself to use the fatal weapon bestowed upon her by the maniacal man, the slender handle and cold trigger were the only strands of hope left on her otherwise tattered rope of survival.
When her back reached the frame of the attic window, Margaret glanced out and caught a glimpse of a pair of headlights entering the vast property gates, steadily making its way up the driveway towards the house.
Electrified by the prospect of aid, Margaret began slamming the glass with her hands, and screaming as loudly as she could muster,
'Help me!!! Help me!!!'
Upon realizing that she had momentarily let her guard down, Margaret quickly spun around to behold the dark silhouetted figure of her pursuer awaiting her discovery with pistol drawn.
The screams were drowned out by the relentless thundering of the murderous shots, eight in all. The silence after the last was pierced only by the caw of a recently landed crow, and the continued clicking of an emptied gun.
The single candle illuminating the attic window of Highsbury Manor was abruptly extinguished. As the approaching car came to a halt in front of the house, the driver opened the door and turned the headlights off, allowing the entire property to once again be enveloped in darkness.

Brian Gillis
July 16th 2008